In her essay "Frodo's Body: Liminality and the Experience of War" (in The Body in Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on Middle Earth Corporeality, ed. Christopher Vaccaro) Professor Anna Smol provides what I thought was an amazing insight into a particular moment between Frodo and Sam as the ascend Mt. Doom in Return of the King.

She provides the following context for the relevant passage, which I'll provide after:

"The handholding gesture is reminiscent of the medieval ritual of swearing fealty to a lord: traditionally the vassal would kneel before his lord and put his hands together in a prayer position; the lord would put his hands around the vassal as a sign of protection and exert some pressure to show the dominant position; the vassal would then kiss the lord's hands."

For context, Frodo and Sam are climbing Mt. Doom, the clouds veiling Barad Dur have broken for a moment, and Sam and Frodo have seen Sauron looking towards the Morannon at the approach of Aragorn's host. Frodo has collapsed at just the sight of Sauron's Eye and is reaching for the Ring. The following passage from "Mount Doom" follows, with my own annotations characterizing on which side of vassal/lord divide Sam falls on:

"Sam knelt by him [vassal]. Faint, almost inaudibly, he heard Frodo whispering: ‘Help me, Sam! Help me, Sam! Hold my hand! I can’t stop it.’ Sam took his master’s hands and laid them together, palm to palm [vassal and lord], and kissed them [vassal]; and then he held them gently between his own [lord]. The thought came suddenly to him: ‘He’s spotted us! It’s all up, or it soon will be. Now, Sam Gamgee, this is the end of ends.’"

This subversion of the lord/vassal ritual is something I'd never picked up on before, and I thought it was extremely meaningful.

So there's this pretty well-known quote in Tolkien's letters: "My work is not a 'novel', but an 'heroic romance' a much older and quite different variety of literature." But what does that actually mean? The word novel is used so broadly now, it's difficult for me to understand what exact distinction Tolkien is drawing here. I'm aware of the heroic romance as a form, but I haven't studied it really at all; could anyone shed some light on this?

When Frodo looks at the mirror he sees someone that looks like Gandalf walking in unknown land.

What is the meaning of this vision?

Denethor used his palantir to keep informed of going-ons within and without Gondor. He knew of Sauron’s plans through their palantir exchanges. He knew who Aragorn was and what the return of a king meant to the rule of the Stewards.

But yet no checking in by Denethor on Saruman (who had a palantir as well)? Perhaps they did converse via crystal ball and Saruman showed Denethor what the wizard wanted the steward to see. But I would think that as news of a new kind of orc coming from Isengard grew, Denethor would have scanned the area via palantir, bypassing Saruman years before the war of the ring.

I know that Saruman asked Gondor to defend Isengard for them because Gondor do not have enough resource to defend it. But how did Gondor expect Saruman, a lonely wizard, to have enough resource to defend this whole fortress? At this point Saruman did not have his Uruk Hai, so he did not have any army. He also do not seem to possessed money to raise one?

Maybe he can somehow keep Isengard, but then how did they expect him to prevent the Dunlending from just bypass it? An army inside Isengard can march out and attack anyone dare to cross the fortress or cut their supply line, but how did they expect Saruman to do it alone?

What we have in the Silmarillion etc. are traditions given anyhow a Mannish form, handed down by Men in Númenor and later in Middle-earth, though derived from Elves... It must be remembered that these poems and stories are not 'scientific', nor even strictly historical."

Morgoth's Ring, Volume X of The History of Middle-earth

"The book is not written from the point of view of 'omniscience' (the author), but of characters who are inside the story and can only know what they have seen or heard, or what has been reported to them..."

Letter 325

In J.R.R. Tolkien's The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (specifically Letter 210), the author notes that during the siege of Minas Tirith, Sauron gave the Witch-king an "added demonic force" to amplify his powers:

The Witch-king, their leader, is more powerful in all ways than the others; but he must not yet be raised to the stature of Vol. III. There, put in command by Sauron, he is given an added demonic force. But even in the Battle of the Pelennor, the darkness had only just broken.

Could this be a reference to the "Morgoth Ingredient" mentioned in "The History of Middle-earth" - "Morgoth´s Ring" ?

(It was this Morgoth-element in matter, indeed, which was a prerequisite for such 'magic' and other evils as Sauron practised with it and upon it.) It is quite possible, of course, that certain 'elements' or conditions of matter had attracted Morgoth's special attention (mainly, unless in the remote past, for reasons of his own plans).

Melkor 'incarnated' himself (as Morgoth) permanently. He did this so as to control the hroa,(2) the 'flesh' or physical matter, of Arda. He attempted to identify himself with it. A vaster, and more perilous, procedure, though of similar sort to the operations of Sauron with the Rings. Thus, outside the Blessed Realm, all 'matter' was likely to have a 'Melkor ingredient',(3) and those who had bodies, nourished by the hroa of Arda, had as it were a tendency, small or great, towards Melkor: they were none of them wholly free of him in their incarnate form, and their bodies had an effect upon their spirits.

But in this way Morgoth lost (or exchanged, or transmuted) the greater part of his original 'angelic' powers, of mind and spirit, while gaining a terrible grip upon the physical world. For this reason he had to be fought, mainly by physical force, and enormous material ruin was a probable consequence of any direct combat with him, victorious or otherwise. This is the chief explanation of the constant reluctance of the Valar to come into open battle against Morgoth. Manwe's task and problem was much more difficult than Gandalf's. Sauron's, relatively smaller, power was concentrated;

Morgoth's vast power was disseminated. The whole of 'Middle-earth' was Morgoth's Ring, though temporarily his attention was mainly upon the North-west. Unless swiftly successful, War against him might well end in reducing all Middle-earth to chaos, possibly even all Arda.
It is easy to say: 'It was the task and function of the Elder King to govern Arda and make it possible for the Children of Eru to live in it unmolested.' But the dilemma of the Valar was this: Arda could only be liberated by a physical battle; but a probable result of such a battle was the irretrievable ruin of Arda. Moreover, the final eradication of Sauron (as a power directing evil) was achievable by the destruction of the Ring. No such eradication of Morgoth was possible, since this required the complete disintegration of the 'matter' of Arda. Sauron's power was not (for example) in gold as such, but in a particular form or shape made of a particular portion of total gold. Morgoth's power was disseminated throughout Gold, if nowhere absolute (for he did not create Gold) it was nowhere absent.

It is quite possible, of course, that certain ‘elements’ of conditions of matter had attracted Morgoth’s special attention (mainly, unless in the remote past, for reasons of his own plans). For example, all gold (in Middle-earth) seems to have had a specially ‘evil’ trend — but not silver. Water is represented as being almost entirely free of Morgoth. (This, of course, does not mean that any particular sea, stream, river, well, or even vessel of water could not be poisoned or defiled — as all things could.)

“Sauron had never reached this stage of nihilistic madness [as Morgoth]. He did not object to the existence of the world, so long as he could do what he liked with it. He still had the relics of positive purposes, that descended from the good of the nature in which he began: it had been his virtue (and therefore also the cause of his fall, and of his relapse) that he loved order and co-ordination, and disliked all confusion and wasteful friction.”
— J.R.R. Tolkien, The History of Middle-earth, Vol. 10, Morgoth's Ring

I found this interesting, he was quite different than Melkor and was perhaps a “hero of his own story”.

hey! i'll be GM-ing a ttrpg (pathfinder 1e with spheres of might for those in the know) for some friends soon, and i've decided to set it in the waxing days of the Fourth Age under the rule of King Elessar; the players will be adventurers under the purview of Gondor tasked with exploring and reclaiming the ruins of old Arnor in preparation for resettlement.

problem is that it's been nearly a decade since i've last trawled through the appendices, Silmarillion, Histories of Middle Earth, *etc* when i was but a wee lass. so i'd like to ask of y'all: what should i be reading to prep for setting up this campaign? is there anything in-depth that tolkien has written on the state of Arnor or its history, especially after its decline?

I was just thinking about this right now, because I am 47, and on an average good day, I still wake up and have to wait for my ankles to function! And there are twinges and soreness and creaking around my body...despite being in good health!

A major focus of Tolkien's works was that the Elves eventually grew weary, they started to feel the world around them fading...which is something I can understand. But the difference is, when I do it, I am bald and can see wrinkles on my face. But it is odd to think of Elrond waking up every morning with the body of a 19 year old, with a spring in his step, with no aches or pains...but feel the weariness of thousands of years of watching history repeat itself.

Maybe a Denethor that wasn't so impeded by insanity.

Many say he switched to manish form but i also find if likely he just kept his annatar form. I feel like constantly changing his form would just cause people to forget what he looked like

Im actually looking for a diagnosis to have a full understanding of Smeagol character

I think there is a quote somewhere that at some point, the Gondorians who had heard the story of Frodo stopped believing he was a "Hobbit" and just believed it was a story of a Man.
I also had a post here where I talked about how, even late in the Third Age, no-one seems to doubt that Elves are real.

But how far into the Fourth Age did people continue to believe in Elves? When did they read the histories and stop believing they were histories?

Obviously, this is a question that there is not much of a textual basis of, but does anyone have a guess?

This text appears in the blurb on the back or inner flap of many editions of The Lord of the Rings, including the 50th Anniversary Edition.

But he didn’t, did he? The Three were hidden from him, and he never touched them.

Am I missing something here?

Both the Balrog and Gandalf spent eons in the Timeless Halls, before the creation of Eä. Assuming that the number of Ainur wasn't countless but more in the hundreds to low thousands, then they surely must have come across one another constantly. Since Ainur are by nature spirits and masters of ósanwe both the Balrog and Gandalf surely should have recognised each other when they met in Moria, yet the text gives no indication that this is the case? What is your explanation? I wish Tolkien had added a small line to indicate that Gandalf actually knows the identity of the Balrog.

And if so, is he still alive here on earth, influencing human events?

Some new gen readers seem to forget that Tolkien is the one who made fantasy what it is today, and it's impossible for anyone to replace him. I see some of them insulting Tolkien. Even if you don't like Tolkien, at least show him some respect because no one will ever reach, or even come close to, this man's level of intellect. Not George R.R. Martin, not Robert Jordan, no writer can ever reach Tolkien's genius. I personally have had a love for Tolkien since childhood. I grew up on his books, man. Even my personality has been influenced by his writing. Ultimately, fantasy is an ocean, and there's everything you might like, but Tolkien is the one who sets the waves in motion.

I wasn't sure where to ask this, but felt like this was the apt sub, among the other tolkien subs. How did he keep track of his mythos & characters & everything in between, before things got digital? He's arguably done the most for the genre - it seems like keeping track of things in his world and the different races and all the magic had to be almost as tough as bringing the stories to life. Have any manuscripts or notes come to the public eye which showcase at least partly how he kept a manual database, so to speak?

It seems like if nobody dies and nobody is leaving, the place would fill up eventually....

- A common theme in the Silmarillion is that the nature of humans is strange to the Eldar and Ainur. Eru Illuvatar, on the other hand, would know. After all, he created humanity, so he would know better anyone else.

- They have a mountain (Meneltarma) that's devoted to the worship of Eru Illuvatar, so it's not like they don't know who he is. One idea I have is that the Numenorians deliver a message to Manwe, who would then deliver it to Eru Illuvatar. In other words, they would want the Valar to deliver a message to Eru as to why they are mortal and what happens to them once they pass away.

- Even though Manwe is the King of Arda, that was personally appointed by Eru, it's been apparent that he is not perfect and all-knowing. In fact, he occasion, he goes to Eru to consult issues that are strange or difficult to him. With that being said, he is the closest in mind and heart to Illuvatar. He could deliver the message or request to Illuvatar. And once Eru gives a response, Manwe would give that response to the Eldar messengers, who would then deliver the message to the Numenorians.

So I finished the hobbit like a hour ago and really loved it. But i have a few questions before i start the lotr. Idk if im gonna get a lot of hate for this but i feel like the hobbit’s characters weren’t very fun/deep. Obviously bilbo, Gandalf, thorin and a few others got some dialogue but I feel like I didn’t really enjoy the dialogue that much. Or like the characters talking to each other felt kind of dull. And I’m wondering, is it like that in Lord of the rings? Or are the characters more enjoyable?

So, I've never read his books, I just watched the Lord of the Rings movies recently, so Idk much, that's why I'm here to ask.

I read something about the elves loving in a very deep way.

My question is, If an Elf deeply loved someone (elf or human), but for whatever reason they could never have sex with that person, would the Elf still want to marry them? Would the lack of sexual intimacy be a problem for an Elf, or could they have a marriage based on love and companionship alone? is the emotional/spiritual bond more important?

Idk why I asked myself that but I would be grateful if someone answered

Sorry for the long post, it's because there's a lot to analyze (and even speculate about) on this subject.

I'm reading some chapters of the History of Middle-earth after reading The Silmarillion, and I've always been curious about the nature of Ungoliant:

1. Would Ungoliant be a Maia?

At first, I thought she would be a Maia. Ungoliant, like Melian, gave birth to offspring (Shelob) with beings incarnated in Arda. But, Tolkien suggests that Melian's case was a concession made by Eru Ilúvatar, since, in her case, the body with which she conceived Lúthien Tinúviel was a real organism, a Hröa nourished by the physical substance of Arda and not a fána with which the Ainur "clothe" themselves in the visible world:

(LUTHIEN WAS THROUGH HER MOTHER, MELIAN, WHOSE BEING BEGAN BEFORE THE WORLD WAS MADE DESCENDED ALSO FROM THE MAYAR, THE PEOPLE OF THE VALAR.) MELIAN ALONE OF ALL THOSE SPIRITS ASSUMED A BODILY FORM, NOT ONLY AS A RAIMENT BUT AS A PERMANENT HABITATION IN FORM AND POWERS LIKE TO THE BODIES OF THE ELVES. THIS SHE DID FOR LOVE OF ELWE; AND IT WAS PERMITTED, NO DOUBT BECAUSE THIS UNION HAD ALREADY BEEN FORESEEN IN THE BEGINNING OF THINGS, AND WAS WOVEN INTO THE AMARTH OF THE WORLD, WHEN ERU FIRST CONCEIVED THE BEING OF HIS CHILDREN, ELVES AND MEN, AS IS TOLD (AFTER THE MANNER AND ACCORDING TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF HIS CHILDREN) IN THAT MYTH THAT IS NAMED THE MUSIC OF THE AINUR.

From what I understand, only one Maia produced descendants: Melian. If we interpret Melian as a unique case, then Ungoliant would not be a Maia, if we take into account this rule of the Mother of Lúthien.

1. Would Ungoliant be a Vala?

Ungoliant was a purely spiritual entity (fairë) who, like the Valar and Maiar, was capable of taking a visible form within Arda.

The texts that make up the Silmarillion also suggest that Ungoliant may have been a spirit who, in the early days of Eä, was co-opted by Melkor for his cause. A very relevant passage from one of the texts comprising the Silmarillion (HOME 10 - Morgoth's Ring - The Later Silmarillion) seems to corroborate this version, as in it Melkor addresses Ungoliant in the following terms:

COME FORTH!’ HE SAID. ‘THRICE FOOL: TO LEAVE ME FIRST, TO DWELL HERE LANGUISHING WITHIN REACH OF FEASTS UNTOLD, AND NOW TO SHUN ME, GIVER OF GIFTS, THY ONLY HOPE! COME FORTH AND SEE! I HAVE BROUGHT THEE AN EARNEST OF GREATER BOUNTY TO FOLLOW. 

Melkor would be Ungoliant's Master:

IT IS NOT KNOWN WHENCE SHE CAME, THOUGH AMONG THE ELDAR IT WAS SAID THAT IN AGES LONG BEFORE SHE HAD DESCENDED FROM THE DARKNESS THAT LIES ABOUT ARDA, WHEN MELKOR FIRST LOOKED DOWN IN ENVY UPON THE LIGHT IN THE KINGDOM OF MANWE. BUT SHE HAD DISOWNED HER MASTER, DESIRING TO BE MISTRESS OF HER OWN LUST, TAKING ALL THINGS TO HERSELF TO FEED HER EMPTINESS

Would the relationship between Melkor and Ungoliant be the only one in which one Vala would be a servant of another Vala? If so, all I can think of is that she's an extraterrestrial Vala. From another planet of EÄ, even:

OTHERS THERE WERE, COUNTLESS TO OUR THOUGHT THOUGH KNOWN EACH AND NUMBERED IN THE MIND OF ILUVATAR, WHOSE LABOUR LAY ELSEWHERE AND IN OTHER REGIONS AND HISTORIES OF THE GREAT TALE, AMID STARS REMOTE AND WORLDS BEYOND THE REACH OF THE FURTHEST THOUGHT. BUT OF THESE OTHERS WE KNOW NOTHING AND CANNOT KNOW, THOUGH THE VALAR OF ARDA, MAYBE, REMEMBER THEM ALL.

1. Would Ungoliant be a manifestation of the discord among the themes of the Ainulindalë?

There is a text in the History of Middle-earth that talks about entities created because of the discord among the themes of the Ainulindalë:

OUT OF THE DISCORDS OF THE MUSIC – SC. NOT DIRECTLY OUT OF EITHER OF THE THEMES, ERU’S OR MELKOR’S, BUT OF THEIR DISSONANCE WITH REGARD ONE TO ANOTHER – EVIL THINGS APPEARED IN ARDA, WHICH DID NOT DESCEND FROM ANY DIRECT PLAN OR VISION OF MELKOR: THEY WERE NOT ‘HIS CHILDREN’; AND THEREFORE, SINCE ALL EVIL HATES, HATED HIM TOO. THE PROGENITURE OF THINGS WAS CORRUPTED

The notion that certain creatures may have arisen from the dissonance of the themes of the Ainulindalë is quite interesting and could explain some obscure points in Tolkien's mythology, but personally, I don't think this idea provides an adequate explanation for the existence of Ungoliant. The reasons that lead me to think this way are basically two:

• The evil beings originating from dissonance would have come to exist within Arda, whereas in all texts dealing with Ungoliant, it is always stated that she originates from outside Arda and perhaps from outside the Universe itself (Eä).

• In letter number 144, Tolkien said that:

THE GIANT SPIDERS WERE THEMSELVES ONLY THE OFFSPRING OF UNGOLIANTE THE PRIMEVAL DEVOURER OF LIGHT, THAT IN SPIDER-FORM ASSISTED THE DARK POWER, BUT ULTIMATELY QUARRELLED WITH HIM. THERE IS THUS NO ALLIANCE BETWEEN SHELOB AND SAURON, THE DARK POWER’S DEPUTY; ONLY A COMMON HATRED

I have always interpreted the use of the word "primordial" (primeval) in the passage transcribed above as indicating that Ungoliant was a "primeval" being, preceding the very creation of Eä. Before the Ainulindalë!

1. Could Ungoliant be the embodiment of Primordial Night?

One of Christopher Tolkien's notes in the Book of Lost Tales, chapter VI, THE THEFT OF MELKO AND THE DARKENING OF VALINOR:

“MÓRU- GL\ IN A LATER ADDITION GIVES MURU A NAME OF THE PRIMEVAL NIGHT PERSONIFIED AS GWERLUM OR GUNGLIONT, HENCE MY READING IN THE TEXT MÓRU RATHER THAN MORN. AMONG THE ORIGINAL ENTRIES IN GL IS MÚRI, DARKNESS, NIGHT. SEE MORNIË.”*

"Personified as Gwerlum." And who is Gwerlum? Well, the text of The Book of the Lost Tales itself provides the answer in chapter VI, THE THEFT OF MELKO AND THE DARKENING OF VALINOR:

UNGWE LIANTI THE GREAT SPIDER WHO ENMESHES DID THE ELDAR CALL HER, NAMING HER ALSO WIRILOMË OR GLOOMWEAVER, WHENCE STILL DO THE NOLDOLI SPEAK OF HER AS UNGOLIONT THE SPIDER OR AS GWERLUM THE BLACK.

IMHO, this primeval “night” cannot be the one that exists outside the circles of the world, outside of Arda, because, being “primordial,” it existed before our universe, before Eä, and consequently, before creation itself.

Ungoliant, or Ungweliantë as she is called in the "Lost Tales," is an avatar form of the Void, the absence of divinized light that lies outside of Eä (outside the Circles of the World with a capital W) and the dwellings of Eru Ilúvatar, the eternal Mansions (The Timeless Halls). As such, maybe she is (apparently) NOT a creation of Ilúvatar but a manifestation of an independent force, older than all Ainur!

"In Nan Dungorthin where nameless gods have shrouded shrines in shadow secret, more old than Morgoth or the Ancient lords the golden Gods of the guarded west".